Netanyahu gave a ‘victory to Hamas’ by rejecting US-backed Gaza peace plan

August 12, 2026·5 min read·Updated 23 hours ago

Hamas would be required to gradually give up its weapons in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territory of Gaza under the peace plan announced by US President Donald Trump in July.

But the deal remains stalled for now.

While Hamas agreed to the plan's call to disarm, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the plan more than a week later, undermining the prospect of peace coming to the beleaguered Palestinian territory anytime soon.

Netanyahu’s announcement came as little surprise to observers of the conflict, as far-right Israeli politicians have said withdrawal from Gaza would be “unacceptable”. The Israeli military now controls nearly 70% of the 365-square-kilometre (140-square-mile) territory.

The US plan calls for disarmament and storing the Hamas arsenal to be handled by the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a Palestinian technocratic body set up in January to run the enclave during a transitional phase.

But the NCAG has yet to be allowed to enter the Gaza Strip and currently remains blocked in Egypt due to Israel’s refusal to let it enter the territory.

While Washington wants to link Hamas's disarmament to a progressive Israeli retreat from the enclave, Israel has said there will be no withdrawal without Hamas's "genuine disarmament".

"Israel does not accept the 15-point document," Netanyahu said unequivocally on Sunday. "The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed. And when I say the disarming of Hamas, it means heavy weaponry, lighter weaponry, all weaponry. And we are talking about genuine disarmament, not fictitious disarmament."

“No one in Israel – even on the left – believes for a second that Hamas is serious when it talks about disarmament," said Denis Charbit, a political science professor at the Open University of Israel. "As soon as the [first phase of a] deal was signed in October 2025, Israelis have always thought the ceasefire would be torpedoed sooner or later.”

Bertrand Badie, professor emeritus at Sciences Po university in Paris, said the deal’s collapse came as no surprise to many commentators, given Trump’s penchant for “short-term wins, headline-grabbing moves and grandstanding”.

Shackling the two-state solution

Trump insisted on Monday that his relationship with Netanyahu is “very good” despite the Israeli leader’s rejection of the Gaza plan a day earlier.

Yet there is room for doubt. When Hamas accepted the US plan in late July, it offered some diplomatic breathing space to Trump, who remains bogged down in Iran. Israel’s rejection of the plan comes as a fresh blow to the US leader on the international scene.

It is also a sign of Israel distancing itself from Washington. Trump and Netanyahu’s relationship took a major hit in June, when Axios reported that Trump called Netanyahu "fucking crazy" and accused him of ingratitude in a phone call.

Once again, Netanyahu is taking the risk of falling out with Washington to satisfy his voter base and boost his far-right allies, who are hostile to any form of compromise with Hamas. Some in his government, like far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have even called for the "full occupation" of Gaza.

Ahead of October's legislative elections, “Netanyahu wants to maintain the carefully constructed image of a leader who cultivates good relationships with foreign leaders but who doesn’t shy away from confrontation when it comes to defending Israel’s national interest,” said Charbit.

Netanyahu’s controversial address to the US Congress at the invitation of Republicans to blast then president Barack Obama's attempts to conclude the 2015 Iran nuclear deal was a classic example, he added.

Netanyahu knows his political and personal future is at stake. Israelis go to the polls on October 27 in the first elections since the horrific October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks.

Meanwhile, the Israeli leader faces ongoing charges for corruption, fraud and breach of trust in three separate cases.

“Netanyahu’s domestic and personal politics have always been a decisive factor in his foreign policy decisions,” said Badie. “There is the electoral factor of course, but there is also an overarching vision that rejects any form of agreement with the Palestinian factions. It also seeks to shackle the two-state solution that began taking shape during the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit," which yielded a first Gaza ceasefire plan on October 13, 2025.

‘Grey zone’

Such inflexibility doesn’t come without a cost. By rejecting the 15-point plan put forward by the Trump administration and supported by Arab nations, Netanyahu offered something of a diplomatic victory to Hamas.

The Palestinian movement and its political leader Khalil al-Hayya accepted the second phase of the peace plan for tactical reasons. Hamas wanted to be seen as a "reasonable actor" – and Netanyahu’s refusal worked in its favour, said Ghaith al-Omari, a former Palestinian Authority official who is now a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Badie agreed that the move marked a shift in how the world views the conflict. “Hamas showed the international community, and especially the Arab countries, that it was ready to engage in a deal. This places it in a position of strength," said Badie. "Ultimately, the Palestinian movement finds itself in a position to make certain demands down the line.”

"Egyptian diplomats – and even Jordanian and Saudi negotiators – would have been pleased to see Hamas disappear from the diplomatic stage. Now they must contend with it and no longer blame it for the impasse in Gaza,” he added.

During talks earlier this month between Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdelatty and Nikolaï Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza and director-general of Trump's Board of Peace, Egypt called for all parties to honour their engagements and abstain from any action that could compromise the peace process.

While Israel continues to refuse a withdrawal from Gaza, its army has reduced the intensity of its attacks on the territory since August 3. In a meeting between Netanyahu and Mladenov the same day, the latter offered Israel assurances about the peace plan. Israel said its army would only operate in Gaza in response to what it considered immediate threats, according to a report by Reuters.

“We have now entered the grey zone of the deal and it seems like Israel’s 'no' isn’t really one, just like Hamas’s 'yes' isn’t either," said Charbit. "This is the result of the devaluation of diplomatic speech under Trump. Under the circumstances, Israel’s rejection does not necessarily mean the end of the Gaza agreement.”

This article has been translated from the original in French.

Reporting from FRANCE 24 contributed to this story.